Superstitions
by Rosie2009
Summary: Elsa has been constantly pestered about bad luck all day long. Just when she thinks she can finally get away from it all, Anna and Elsa are dragged into a crazy adventure around the castle to find a ghoulish fiend. Sisterly and not romantic.


Elsa relaxed calmly into the warm embrace of the couch by the fireplace in the library. She sighed deeply in contentment.

"This is heaven," Elsa mumbled to herself, closing her eyes.

Elsa had quite the day. The council was constantly bothering her about some ill fortune that was sure to come and just a general superstitious air was about every person today.

Anna had tackled her to the floor just as she was about to walk under a ladder, insisting it was bad luck.

Kristoff had, much more politely than Anna, warned her about the dangers of crossing a black cat's path as she watched a dark-colored feline slink by not too far from her.

Everywhere she went, people seemed to be on edge. She truly wished that she knew why everyone was so nervous.

Elsa sank into the couch more, attempting to erase all of the thoughts swirling through her brain.

"ELSA!" she suddenly heard a shrill voice screech. Elsa stood up immediately, only to be bowled over back into the sofa as soon as she did. She looked down at the shaking body now in her arms. Elsa sighed a bit in relief upon realizing that it was only Anna.

"I've got a really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, REALLY BIG PROBLEM!" Anna yelled, going through the "really's" as quickly as she could. At that point, Elsa got worried. The last time Anna had said something like this, she had wrecked the entirety of the East side of the summer festival.

"What is it?" Elsa asked calmly and carefully, covering up her true feelings of impending panic.

"I broke a mirror!" Anna cried loudly, burying her face in Elsa's neck with a loud sob.

Elsa couldn't resist the slightly exasperated huff that escaped her lips. More superstitions? Elsa had believed that she had finished with that for the day.

But nevertheless, Elsa attempted to summon together whatever was left of her patience and tolerance so she could comfort her sister. Besides, she loved Anna and she hated for her to be upset. Even if it was over something absolutely ridiculous.

"Anna, Sunshine, it's going to be alright. It's just a mirror. What's the worst that could happen?"

"If you break a mirror, you're cursed with seven years of bad luck!" Anna wailed. "And I'm already clumsy, so if I have seven years of bad luck, I'm going to be even worse than I already am," Anna whined brokenly. Elsa shook her head at the sheer absurdity of it all.

"These are all superstitions, Love. You really needn't worry. It's all fake."

"Well, if it's a superstition, then how come I tripped all the way here and-"

CRASH! Elsa and Anna raised their gaze to look at the doorway.

"Anna, what was that?" Elsa asked in a calm tone, masking the fact that she was a bit worried.

"I don't know," Anna replied, barely above a whisper.

"C'mon, let's go look," the eldest urged slightly as she stood up. Anna shook her head in negation of the statement, but nevertheless clung to her sister as Elsa waddled along with the burden of the redhead on her back.

Elsa poked her head out of the doorway, shortly followed by Anna's fearful countenance.

There was suddenly a rustle nearby and Elsa turned her head quickly at the noise. She felt Anna move a bit behind her and when she looked at her sister, she noticed that Anna had picked up a candelabrum. She rolled her eyes a bit and exited the room, moving warily toward the noise.

Anna's hand was clenched tightly around her shoulder as they creeped toward the noise.

"OOAHHH!" a loud voice sounded from behind the curtain. Elsa jumped a bit. She ceased her movement completely as the drapes suddenly ripped off of the rod holding them above the window.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" Anna shrieked, absolutely terrified as she leapt onto her sister and wrapped her legs around Elsa's waist as well as enveloped the elder's neck in her arms. Elsa stumbled forward somewhat at the sudden weight.

They both watched as the mysterious figure moved away speedily, still making quite a bit of noise.

Elsa stood in shock for a moment, staring after the seemingly floating drapes. After she was sure it was gone, she sighed heavily at the burden that was currently wrapped around her.

"Okay, monkey on my back, I request that you get off," Elsa said, struggling not to fall. Out of her peripheral vision, she could barely make out Anna peeking open one eye to see if the coast was clear.

She felt the one-hundred fifteen pounds that had been on her back slide off carefully. Elsa put her hands on her back and stretched, wincing a bit when she heard the unpleasant cracks that followed.

"What're we gonna do, Elsa?" Anna questioned fearfully.

"I don't know yet."

"Elsa?"

"Hmm?" the eldest responded, pursing her lips thoughtfully as she crossed her arms in front of her.

"Do you think it's a… ghost?" Anna squeaked. Elsa turned to look at the redheaded young woman.

"No. I do not."

"But how can you be sure? It's like Kristoff said, 'You never can be too careful, Anna. There's three things to fear: angry women, rejection, and men who pick their nose and eat it,'" Anna spoke in an imitation of Kristoff's voice.

Elsa's eyes widened a bit at the last one and she stifled the impending gag.

"Okay, maybe not the last bit, but you get what I mean! What if it's actually real?"

"Anna, I highly doubt that it's real. The reason being that ghosts do not leave wet footprints," Elsa claimed, pointing to the moist prints left on the floor in the direction that the figure had disappeared to.

"Maybe it was thirsty and you know stuff goes right through them," Anna suggested with a slight huff of laughter, glancing at Elsa to gauge her reaction.

"Ghosts don't eat or drink," Elsa corrected her gently, a bit confused at Anna's sudden mirth.

"Well, that's a relief," Anna said with a small smile. "Wouldn't want it to eat all of my chocolate and leave chocolate on my rug," she giggled a bit at the statement.

Elsa raised a brow, questioning Anna's humor. Then it suddenly hit her and she shook her head with a grimace, suddenly realizing the implications of both of her prior statements.

"Really, Anna? Leaving chocolate on the rug?" Anna just laughed harder.

"Yeah, do you get it? Like, you know-"

"Yes, I get it. However immature and disgusting as that joke was, I get it," Elsa interrupted, unamused.

"We both know I'm not known for my maturity. After all, I'm not the older sister who has to be a stick in the mud," Anna teased. Elsa rolled her eyes.

"Har, har."

"Okay, so the important question here at the moment is who's the 'Peeping Tom?'" Anna questioned.

"That is what I am not certain of, dear sister. Why don't we go find out?" Elsa inquired. Anna suddenly got a nervous look about her as she locked gazes with her sister.

"In the case that it is a ghost, methinks I don't want to partake on this journey, thank you!" Anna giggled as she walked backwards. Elsa crossed her arms in front of her.

"You wouldn't want the bad luck ghost monster to eat me, would you?" Elsa asked, raising a brow. She was determined to convince Anna to come along so that she could disprove all of the superstitions she had been forced to hear.

"What if we both stay in your study and hide until morning?" Anna tried fruitlessly.

"I think not, dear. Let's go," Elsa insisted, grabbing Anna's arm and pulling her along behind her.

"Fine. Just let me prepare first," Anna replied as she stalked off to her room which was not far away.

"Alright, but don't take too long," Elsa called after her as she leaned up against the wall to wait.

…

"I'm back," a voice rasped to the side of Elsa. Elsa shook herself from the doze she had slipped into in order to see her sister.

"I am the night," Anna growled, hidden behind a dark cloak. Elsa rolled her eyes.

"Seriously? What are you even trying to be?" Anna let the cape drop behind her. Unimpressed, Elsa eyed the costume.

Anna was wearing grey leggings, black boots, a grey long-sleeved top, a strange shape on her chest, black gloves that reached just shy of her elbows, a gold belt, and a mask with ears.

"What do you think?" Anna asked, still in that strange voice.

"I think that outfit is quite frightening, and I think you should take it off. It's not like that we're in any state of danger. It will likely be a guard or something and we'll need to simply reprimand him for his imprudence," Elsa answered, watching her sister groan and look up at the ceiling with her arms dangling.

"No, I'm going this way. Aggravating, no good, darned stealth attempts," Anna grumbled indignantly as she crossed her arms in front of her.

"Nope, you're changing," Elsa stated, grabbing Anna by her cape and dragging the younger to her room.

"Elsaaa," Anna whined.

Despite her baby sister's protests, Elsa took her to the pink room and began to sift through the younger's wardrobe.

"Where did you even get that… costume?" the elder woman questioned, searching through the younger's dresses.

"I found it on the side of the road," Anna answered nonchalantly. Elsa sighed, shaking her head.

"Do you find everything you own on the side of the road?"

"No!" Anna protested. "Just a unicycle and this outfit," she replied.

"As far as you know," she mumbled under her breath. Elsa whipped her head around to look at Anna.

"What? I promise it isn't dangerous, okay?" Anna held out her hands in a placating gesture. Elsa raised an eyebrow at that comment but turned back to continue her search for suitable clothing.

After a few moments, Elsa pulled out a nice forest-green dress.

"Here you go, Anna," Elsa said, walking over to Anna and holding the hanger in her hand.

"Hmm. Not nearly as interesting as my suit, but I guess it's good enough," Anna agreed, stripping the outfit off so that she was in her undergarments. Elsa rolled her eyes and moved to the doorway.

"Don't dawdle. We need to hurry," the elder sister called over her shoulder as she left to wait in the hall.

"He's likely already gone by now, anyway," Anna raised her voice to be heard.

"On the contrary, I believe he hasn't went too far. After all, the culprit always returns to the scene of the crime," Elsa responded, leaning against the wall.

"Where'd you get that from, Sherlock?"

"A mystery novel."

"Everything's from books with you. I'll have you know that I learned most of my language from servants," Anna yelled a bit, and Elsa could hear Anna nearly fall as she spoke while trying to put on the dress.

"I really wouldn't go telling people that, Sunshine," Elsa advised wisely, with a small chuckle.

"What? It's true."

"That I have no doubt of," Elsa murmured, grinning a bit as she earned an incensed shout in response.

"What was that?!"

"Nothing. Are you done yet?" Elsa replied. She smiled lovingly when her little sister came out of the room finally.

"You look beautiful."

"Thank you," Anna huffed a bit. Elsa linked arms with her baby sister and pulled her along.

"Now let's investigate and follow those footprints," Elsa said with a grin.

"Y'know, you're lucky I love you or I wouldn't be coming with you to support you in the effort of simply scolding some guard for scaring us," Anna squeaked out the latter part of the statement, clamping a hand over her mouth.

Despite Anna's mortification at the first part of her statement, Elsa never batted an eye. She knew that Anna tried to avoid any potentially touchy subjects such as Elsa's questioning of Anna's love for her.

"I am very lucky, Sunshine. Every day I thank the heavens for you loving me," Elsa responded coolly.

She felt Anna's rigid form loosen, but she still sensed the tension that her sister possessed.

"You are aware that it's safe to say things that are considered 'normal' around me, aren't you?" Elsa questioned, trying to dissipate whatever was left of Anna's worries.

"Yes. I just don't want to move too fast," Anna replied, sighing a bit. Elsa nodded her head slowly, processing the information and attempting to think of a comment to make her sister feel better.

"Baby steps," Anna giggled a bit. The corners of Elsa's lips lifted at the sound.

They then found themselves where they had been upon seeing the mysterious figure.

"Let's see if we can track whatever is left of these footprints," Elsa said, examining the ground carefully as she walked slowly in order not to miss a single clue that could've been left behind.

"Okay," Anna agreed before reaching down to grab the candelabra she had dropped on the floor.

Elsa rolled her eyes at the redhead's antics but didn't say anything. They traversed silently for a few moments, following the tracks down the stairs.

That is, until Anna decided to start humming.

It was a rather upbeat tune and Elsa rather liked it. It was quite familiar in some strange way.

"For the first time in forever, there'll be music, there'll be light! For the first time in forever, I'll be dancing through the night! Don't know if I'm elated or gassy," Anna sang quietly, looking around as she walked.

"Where did that come from?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't even realize I was singing it out loud," Anna smiled nostalgically.

"No, by all means, please continue. It was beautiful. I enjoyed it greatly," Elsa encouraged as she glanced up at Anna for a moment, breaking her steady gaze at the tracks upon arriving at the bottom of the stairs. Anna grinned embarrassedly.

"It's not that good," Anna said.

"You're a wonderful singer," Elsa asserted. "I certainly don't have the voice you have." Elsa found herself quite surprised when Anna gasped.

"You have a way better voice than me! I've only heard you sing once or twice since… you know, but every time I hear it, I know it's totally beautifuller than mine!" Anna enthused excitedly.

"Thank you, Sunshine, but yours is better," Elsa said as they walked into the dining room.

"Nope, yours."

"Yours."

"Yours."

"No, yours."

"Yours!"

"Let's agree to disagree," Elsa offered, and Anna nodded reluctantly.

"But we still know I'm- oof! Hey, what's the-" Elsa threw her arm back and stopped Anna in her tracks, shortly thereafter covering her mouth with a hand. Once she was sure Anna would stay shut up, she slowly uncovered the younger's lips and pointed ahead of them.

Anna's eyes widened to the size of saucers and she clung on tightly to the candelabra.

Right ahead of them in the kitchen was a figure covered by deep purple drapes. Elsa stared at it, gulping. Creeping forward with one hand extended, Elsa reached for the drapes. She could feel Anna trembling a bit.

Taking a deep breath, Elsa grasped the drapes and snatched them off of the figure.

To both Anna and Elsa's surprise, it was simply a wooden chair. They both looked at one another.

Suddenly there was a shout and Anna jumped like she had been shot, accidentally knocking over a salt shaker.

"Oh, no! What was the thing about salt? What was it?!" Anna fretted, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"What thing?"

"That's it!" Anna answered her own question.

Elsa watched curiously as Anna grabbed a bit of the salt in her hand and threw it over her shoulder.

"There. Problem solved."

"What was the problem even?" Elsa asked, utterly and completely puzzled.

"Elsa, spilling salt is bad luck!" Anna informed her older sister. Elsa rolled her eyes.

"More superstitions? Anna, this bad luck thing is ridiculous and not even true. I mean, you haven't tripped once since you told me that you broke a mirror," Elsa said, trying to express to her sister that her worrying was for naught.

Anna's eyes widened in remembrance and Elsa quickly continued her statement.

"Besides, right now, the important thing is to find whomever made the footprints and left these drapes here."

"Elsa, we don't need to look for it anymore," Anna replied worriedly.

"Of course we need to look, Anna," Elsa replied.

"No, we don't, Els. Look behind you," Anna pointed. Elsa turned, and her eyes widened in surprise.

"Oh, my word," Elsa murmured, turning paler than she already was naturally.

They were both frozen in fear as a tall, white-sheeted figure towered over them.

"RUN!" Anna screeched, grabbing Elsa's hand and dragging her behind her. It didn't take Elsa long to shake herself from her fearful stupor and sprint along with her sister.

After several moments of running, Elsa stopped.

"Wait, just a minute," Elsa demanded, stopping in her tracks. Anna screeched to a halt and turned around quickly, grabbing Elsa's hand and pulling.

"Come on, we've lost it for now! We need to hurry before it finds us!" Anna whispered loudly, looking about nervously as if she expected something to jump out of the shadows.

"Anna, I stand by the fact that this is all an illusion."

"But what if it's not?" Anna questioned, looking at Elsa with an exceedingly perplexed expression.

"It is, I'm sure of it," Elsa expressed confidently, averting her gaze to the direction in which they came.

"No, no, no, no. We are _not_ going back there."

"Anna, what else are we going to do?"

"I don't know!" Anna cried, conflicted.

"Well, you don't have to go with me," Elsa stated, starting to get exasperated with the entire situation.

"I don't want you to get eaten or something by it!"

"Do you really think ghosts can eat people?"

"I don't know, I've never seen one," Anna retorted fearfully. "Just don't go," she begged, turning pleading eyes toward her older sister.

"Anna, we have to get to the bottom of this! I am absolutely sick of it terrifying you!" Elsa told her, desperately trying to get the idea through to the younger woman.

After a few seconds of silence, Elsa watched Anna's face droop and her eyes gain a sadness that Elsa rarely had seen.

"You know, I think I caused it to appear," Anna spoke dejectedly, looking down at the floor. Elsa furrowed her brow.

"Sunshine…"

"Stupid Friday the Thirteenth," Anna mumbled, crossing her arms in front of her. Elsa's eyes widened at Anna's words.

"What did you say?"

"I caused it to appear."

"No, after that," Elsa prodded.

"What? Friday the Thirteenth?" Anna asked curiously, her gaze lifting to Elsa's.

"Yes! What is that?" Elsa demanded, raising her voice in excitement.

"Well, it's just a day that's always been considered bad luck. Everyone I know is afraid of it," Anna answered Elsa's question a bit worriedly.

"That's why everyone was acting so strangely today!" Elsa thought intently on her day.

Had she seen anyone acting suspiciously? No, not unless she counted the small servant boys and girls she had seen in the halls earlier that day…

"Anna, I think I know what's going on," Elsa suddenly said after piecing together the information in her head.

"It's a specter and we all need to run for our lives to make a new castle in a different part of the kingdom?" Anna suggested hopefully.

"Anna, I need that suit of yours," Elsa stated, looking over at her sister.

"My batsuit? Why?" Anna questioned, absolutely puzzled at the prospect of her sister ever wanting to use that outfit.

"Just get it."

"Okay," Anna replied hesitantly.

…

"Here you go," Anna offered warily. Elsa winced a bit at the thought of what she was about to do, but nevertheless took it from Anna's hands.

She then mustered up as much elegance as she could and strode into the bathroom nearby. Elsa shut the door gently behind her and, using her magic, dissipated the dress. She then stepped into the crazy outfit given to her by her sister.

"So, Els… What exactly are you about to do?" Elsa heard Anna's voice outside the door.

"Something crazy," Elsa muttered, shoving her arms into the jumpsuit and reaching for the buttons on her back to clasp it.

"What?"

"I said that you'll find out when I do it," Elsa raised her voice a bit so Anna could hear her.

"Okay," Anna answered and Elsa could hear her skepticism.

Elsa chose not to put on the mask that went with the costume, and instead settled for putting on the cape.

"Are you having as much trouble putting it on as I do? It's a real chore," Anna complained.

"No, actually it didn't really give me much of an issue," Elsa replied, using a blast of magic to whip back her bangs so that her hair was slicked backwards toward her braid. She then tucked her braid into a nice bun using a few hair pins.

"Really?! Well, I guess it shouldn't surprise me. You are pretty much perfect, after all," Anna complimented with what Elsa knew was a lopsided grin. Elsa paused a bit in her handiwork.

"I'm not perfect, Anna. I'm actually very far from it," Elsa said in response as she angled her head, so she could get an idea of what she looked like in the mirror.

She then created small, spiked points in her hand and put them in her mouth on her two top canine teeth.

"Well, if you're not perfect, you're certainly perfect compared to me," Anna replied.

Elsa huffed a bit in response. She took one last look at herself before opening the door.

From her position against the wall, Anna turned her head to look at Elsa. Her eyes widened in wonder and she stared at Elsa's outfit.

"Wow… That's awesome," Anna grinned.

"Thank you," Elsa answered heartfeltly, bashfully beaming. She turned her head toward the ghoulish noises coming from the kitchen. It was go-time.

…

After much convincing of Anna, Elsa finally was able to hide beside one of the doorways to the kitchen.

"We got them good!" Elsa heard.

"Einar, I'm not sure about this… This is the princess and the," the small voice gulped, "the queen we're talking about."

"Don't be such a chicken, Anette."

"But Queen Elsa's scary. She might eat us up or- or freeze us to go in her icy collection!"

"Icy collection? Where did you hear that?" another voice piped up.

"I heard it from Christian."

"Good grief, we all know Christian doesn't know anything."

"Hey! I know plenty, Einar!"

Elsa took in a small breath, mentally preparing herself. She sent an icy gust of wind past the children so that it knocked over a nearby pail used to clean the floor.

"What was that?!" the child that Elsa recognized as Anette questioned fearfully.

"It was just a pail, Anette."

"Do you think there might be a… real ghost?"

"That's ridiculous."

Elsa furrowed her brow a bit. She was in quite the moral dilemma. She hated to scare the children out of their wits, but they needed to stop frightening Anna. Anna was really spooked and when it came to Elsa's sister, there was no question as to what she should do.

Besides, they were plenty old enough to handle it. They were really a bunch of preteens that wanted to cause some mischief.

With that thought in mind, Elsa made a loud groaning sound as if she was rising from the dead.

"What was that?!" Anette asked, noticeably more panicked.

"Just the wind," Einar responded, although Elsa did trace a hint of fear in his voice.

"I don't think the wind blows indoors,"

"Shut up, Camilla," Einar grumbled. Elsa sent a whirring breeze that rattled a group of pans hanging from the wall.

"Guys, I really think we should leave," whined Anette.

Elsa chose that moment t aim carefully at a large spoon on the wall behind the kids.

It fell with a clang and all four of them jumped with a shriek.

Elsa almost wanted to laugh, but she couldn't quite get over her feelings of guilt for the children. Elsa took a deep breath and made all of the various utensils and cooking tools shake.

They all looked around, wide-eyed in fear.

Elsa steeled herself for her big moment as she slipped to where she was close to the entrance near the dining room table.

She stepped out in clear view of the children, eyeing them with her cold, icy gaze.

"You children have awoken a force far beyond your comprehension. Your petty impersonations of spirits has awakened the greatest and most feared of the entire castle," Elsa boomed as commandingly as she could. The kids were pale in shock, gripping onto each other.

"I will feast on your blood," Elsa revealed her face, baring her fangs.  
"And your corpses will rot in the oblivion that is my cave!" she growled.

"AHHH!" the children finally gathered enough of their wits to scream.

"PLEASE DON'T EAT US!" Anette screeched.

"We don't taste good!" Einar yelled.

"We're sorry!" Christian wailed.

"Is there a way to fix what we did?!" Camilla whined.

Elsa was quiet a moment.

"You shall apologize for the wrongs you have done, you little beasts! Then, and only then can my soul rest in peace. Otherwise, I will gladly devour the plasma coursing through your veins!"

"We will!"

"We gotta find the princess!"

"I will leave you with this warning! You have disturbed my family, the Arendellian family! I will be glad to disturb you if you do not correct what you heathens have done! So says Queen Eva of Arendelle!"

They collectively gasped.

"You're the queen's grandma?!" Christian squeaked.

"How did you turn into a vampire?" Camilla couldn't help but ask.

"Yes, I am the grandma of the sweet children that are your queen and princess. Now disperse, you little rats! I tire of your folly!" Elsa roared.

All four of them scampered out.

Elsa nodded her head with satisfaction. She grinned a bit and with a wave of her hand, everything that was previously out of place shot back to their positions. Elsa peeked around the corner of a doorway that led into the hall and she grinned widely at the sight of the children profusely apologizing to Anna and explaining themselves.

Elsa smiled and waited for the kids to disappear.

Once they were gone, Elsa strolled over to Anna, her hands behind her back.

"Dang," Anna was speechless for a moment.

"You're such a bad girl," Anna suddenly said with a sly grin, pointing at Elsa.

"Only for you, sister, only for you," Elsa smiled, her eyes half-lidded as she pulled her sister into an affectionate hug.


End file.
